Intrada Soundtrack Forum

INTRADA Announces:



HOUSE OF CARDS
Composed and Conducted by JAMES HORNER

INTRADA Special Collection Volume 111

In the 1993 film House of Cards, five-year-old Sally Matthews' archeologist father had just fallen to his death at a Mayan ruin. To comfort the little girl, her father’s Mexican associate tells Sally about his culture’s belief in a silent dream existence where the departed can live in the moon, a realm especially welcoming to children. When Sally and her mother return home to the U.S., Sally gets lost in her own imagination by the power of this Mayan suggestion. She begins to communicate with the outside world by surrounding herself with spectacular card structures or by attempting perilous climbs to touch the heavens. Although a child psychologist tries to break through to Sally, it’s Ruth who ultimately comes up with a solution by using her own architectural skills to virtually look into Sally’s house of cards, and then build a card-like spiral staircase that will lead both mother and daughter to emotional catharsis.

Music is a major physical presence in House of Cards, as Sally is first seen playing the pan flute while in Mexico, and then blowing through one that’s only visible to her mind’s eye. As played on the soundtrack by Tony Hinnigan and Mike Taylor, the pan flute serves as the instrumental gateway to a world of Latin magical realism, complete with iguanas, halfmoons and mist-covered temples. It was an exotic place that James Horner had memorably trod with his scores for Where the River Runs Black and Vibes. Now, with House of Cards, his natural affinity for combining ethnic winds and percussion with electronic tonalities would reach new, mystical heights, complemented by a small orchestra grounding his music between reality and a realm where coping with death is a child’s dream. House of Cards was composed at the same time Horner composed several other intimately youthful masterpieces such as Searching for Bobby Fischer,The Man Without a Face and Jack the Bear, allowing Horner to play to the special world of children in its wonder, tenderness and high drama -- including a world locked in a House of Cards.

This release is limited to 1500 copies.

INTRADA Special Collection - Volume 111
Retail Price: 19.99
AVAILABLE 10/13/2009
For track listing and sound samples, please visit
http://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.6373/.f

Ordered ! This one sounds beautifully... Go back to my bed guys !

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Rame Tep! Rame Tep! Rame Tep!

Boss! That was a great year for Horner, and I was hoping
this was the one!! Thanks so much guys!!

And another James Horner's grail can be finally crossed off the list! Thank you very much! Of course, ordered and can't wait to finally hear this one on its own.

Surprising how much music was actually in the film...

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I had never heard of this film, but I'm ordering the CD on the strength of the sound samples, which sound like prime James Horner. That plus the fact that Intrada's release of Something Wicked This Way Comes has become one of my favorite Horner scores. I love these productions with Horner and Simon Rhodes, they always end up sounding so vibrant.